An introduction and a (hopefully) short St Croix report
Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 2:15 pm
Hello Everyone. I have lurked around for quite a while on this forum and finally signed up a couple weeks ago. I never got around to making any posts before I left for my trip to St Croix, but now I am home and have some experiences and photos to share.
I first traveled to the Virgin Islands two years ago as a treat to myself for graduating college. I was in desperate need of some decompression after my hardest semester in my college career. So I spent the week following graduation at the Concordia Eco-tents overlooking Drunk and Salt Pond Bays. Disconnected from technology for the first time, I immediately felt relaxed knowing all I had to do for the next week was explore to my heart's content. So I did that and before I knew it I was on a plane back home to put my computer science degree to good use. I always vowed to make it back down as soon as I could.
After a few other adventures and two seemingly fast years, I finally had an opportunity to get back to the Virgin Islands. While St. Croix can't compete with the natural beauty of St. John (in my eyes), it still offers the same opportunities for exploration and relaxation. Through time shares owned by family members I was able to score a very cheap stay at Chenay Bay Beach Resort on the north shore just east of Christiansted.
Panoramic view of Chenay Bay and Green Cay
Chenay Bay itself is a great place for snorkeling as it's mostly grassy in the middle with coral flanking both sides. I saw the heads of Hawksbill turtles pop up in the bay almost every day. Green Cay is just off the coast and provides more snorkeling opportunities with access by kayak. The resort consists of small studio, one and two bedroom cottages, a beach bar and restaurant, a pool, and a small shack with free use of snorkeling gear and kayaks. They have been and still are in the process of remodeling their cottages and building other items around the property. We managed to get put in one of the newly renovated units and it was absolutely perfect. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone who has an opportunity to visit. The food at the restaurant could be better but it's still good. The people working there are all very nice as well.
The view from cottage #8 at Chenay Bay
My girlfriend and I didn't really do much all week besides snorkel and read books. We did manage to make it into Christiansted a couple times for lunch and dinner and also out to Frederiksted on the west end for dinner one night. One of the highlights was definitely the trip out to Buck Island National Reef Monument off the north-east coast of St. Croix. The snorkeling there is amazing and the boat ride to get there was equally as awesome. I would definitely say that is a must do for anyone here that makes it to St. Croix.
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<i>Snorkeling at Buck Island</i>
We also made the drive out to the eastern most point, Point Udall. The views there are awesome and the beaches out on that end of the island are nice and quiet. Overall St. Croix is an awesome place and I would recommend anyone who hasn't been there to make at least one trip.
Even though the trip was as perfect as it could be, it didn't seem to satisfy my need to get back to St. John. I'm already trying to figure out if it would be feasible later this year. It shouldn't be too difficult considering I would most likely stay at Cinnamon or Maho. I think the deal breaker would be flight cost. If I find a decent deal I'll definitely be on my way back. Until then, I'll probably still lurk around and post some replies to topics here and there. Also, I am still going through photos from the trip so I will probably reply to this thread with new photos as I post them. Hope everyone has a great week!
I first traveled to the Virgin Islands two years ago as a treat to myself for graduating college. I was in desperate need of some decompression after my hardest semester in my college career. So I spent the week following graduation at the Concordia Eco-tents overlooking Drunk and Salt Pond Bays. Disconnected from technology for the first time, I immediately felt relaxed knowing all I had to do for the next week was explore to my heart's content. So I did that and before I knew it I was on a plane back home to put my computer science degree to good use. I always vowed to make it back down as soon as I could.
After a few other adventures and two seemingly fast years, I finally had an opportunity to get back to the Virgin Islands. While St. Croix can't compete with the natural beauty of St. John (in my eyes), it still offers the same opportunities for exploration and relaxation. Through time shares owned by family members I was able to score a very cheap stay at Chenay Bay Beach Resort on the north shore just east of Christiansted.
Panoramic view of Chenay Bay and Green Cay
Chenay Bay itself is a great place for snorkeling as it's mostly grassy in the middle with coral flanking both sides. I saw the heads of Hawksbill turtles pop up in the bay almost every day. Green Cay is just off the coast and provides more snorkeling opportunities with access by kayak. The resort consists of small studio, one and two bedroom cottages, a beach bar and restaurant, a pool, and a small shack with free use of snorkeling gear and kayaks. They have been and still are in the process of remodeling their cottages and building other items around the property. We managed to get put in one of the newly renovated units and it was absolutely perfect. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone who has an opportunity to visit. The food at the restaurant could be better but it's still good. The people working there are all very nice as well.
The view from cottage #8 at Chenay Bay
My girlfriend and I didn't really do much all week besides snorkel and read books. We did manage to make it into Christiansted a couple times for lunch and dinner and also out to Frederiksted on the west end for dinner one night. One of the highlights was definitely the trip out to Buck Island National Reef Monument off the north-east coast of St. Croix. The snorkeling there is amazing and the boat ride to get there was equally as awesome. I would definitely say that is a must do for anyone here that makes it to St. Croix.
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<i>Snorkeling at Buck Island</i>
We also made the drive out to the eastern most point, Point Udall. The views there are awesome and the beaches out on that end of the island are nice and quiet. Overall St. Croix is an awesome place and I would recommend anyone who hasn't been there to make at least one trip.
Even though the trip was as perfect as it could be, it didn't seem to satisfy my need to get back to St. John. I'm already trying to figure out if it would be feasible later this year. It shouldn't be too difficult considering I would most likely stay at Cinnamon or Maho. I think the deal breaker would be flight cost. If I find a decent deal I'll definitely be on my way back. Until then, I'll probably still lurk around and post some replies to topics here and there. Also, I am still going through photos from the trip so I will probably reply to this thread with new photos as I post them. Hope everyone has a great week!
